Warm-hot intergalactic medium

Alternative definitions (2), class: vernacular (0)
Term: Warm-hot intergalactic medium
Definition:

The space containing a cluster of galaxies filled with a tenuous gas of temperature 105 to 107 K and density 10-6 to 10-4 cm-3. WHIM has been continuously shock-heated during the process of structure formation. It is so highly ionized that it can only absorb or emit far-ultraviolet and soft X-ray photons, primarily at spectral lines of highly ionized C, O, Ne, and Fe. WHIM is thought to be the main reservoir of missing baryons.

Created 2023.04.16
Last Modified 2023.04.16
Contributed by Ryan McGranaghan
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https://n2t.net/ark:/99152/h24014